Rats, what language!

But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupts thought 8212; wrote George Orwell in a mid-8217;40s essay on 8216;Politics and the English Language8217;. The writer was making an impassioned case against letting language remain in a bad way. After all, so goes the general cynical argument, when the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer. Orwell disagreed. More, he pleaded that an act of rescue was possible, and that it was, in fact, urgent. Because a debased language becomes a trap for us all. A bad usage can rapidly spread even among those who should and probably do know better. And the 8216;8216;slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts8217;8217;. These last few days, as former Union minister Yashwant Sinha called Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a 8216;8216;shikhandi8217;8217;, Union minister Laloo Prasad Yadav called Amar Singh a 8216;8216;dalal8217;8217; and the BJP a 8216;8216;python8217;8217; and its allies 8216;8216;frogs8217;8217; and 8216;8216;rats8217;8217;, and former minister, Arun Jaitley, stoutly defended the BJP8217;s right to as debased a language as the Congress8217;s 8212; or in this case, its ally8217;s 8212; George Orwell was missed again.

It has become fashionable to say that things, politics, have never been worse. But there is always something suspicious to that lament. Did a Golden Age of politics ever exist 8212; when political parties behaved with sobriety and in the public interest, parliament was the home of great debate and governments were truly of and for the people? Probably not. Yet, anyone watching the political theatre in the last few months in our country, might be tempted to agree that we have indeed come down a long way. The language of politics, always pockmarked by euphemism, question-begging and as Orwell put it 8216;8216;sheer cloudy vagueness8217;8217;, is now becoming frankly abusive. The offence is entirely meant, no apologies forthcoming.

The language of our politicians diminishes us all. And yes, we can do something about it. We can listen to it more carefully. We can jeer at it. If we ignore it however, or smile indulgently at it, or dismiss it with cynicism, we are courting a danger. Of getting the language and politics that we do not deserve.